Do you find yourself validating a good run with an average pace? Then, dropping that pace to catch the runner up ahead on the path? Are you desperate to break a four-hour marathon or 1:30 in the half? If you find yourself pushing harder and harder but not seeing the results in races, you’re likely in a Zone 3 running plateau. You’re probably going too hard too often and not training slow enough often enough. It doesn’t matter your pace, slowing down to go faster is the real deal.
Training in the Right Running Zones
For runners, there is little better for you than slow Zone 2 base running. Many runners push Zone 2 work out of the way in favor of Zone 3 training because they fall into the trap that running harder more often will lead to better results. However, Zone 3 running is above aerobic pace and has some lactate response, which means that it isn’t hard enough to elicit a desirable physical adaptation, and yet it’s too hard to allow for day-to-day recovery.
Constantly pushing in Zone 3 day after day is a habit of the time-crunched runner, where mileage and average pace are the only validators of training. This athlete can often find themselves in a rut and left wondering how they could work so hard for so little results. As mentioned above, continual Zone 3 training doesn’t allow for enough recovery and puts the athlete in a state of continuous fatigue. No wonder we call it feeling “hammered out!” So how can we get out of the rut and back to PRs?
How to Determine Your Zone
Zones can be calculated from Threshold Heart Rate, Maximum Heart Rate, or a combination of Maximum and threshold or resting heart rate. There are a variety of training zone calculators available in a TrainingPeaks athlete account. Once you calculate your heart rate zone, make sure to set your threshold and zone in TrainingPeaks.
Stick to Your Running Heart Rate Zones
The first rule is that you want to keep your easy days truly easy and your hard days hard. An easy hour in Zone 2 will always provide a better benefit than a moderately hard Zone 3 effort for that same hour. You want to create a schedule that allows you to run easy days in Zone 2 to illicit a recovery response, increase aerobic capacity, and increase fatty acid usage. The latter is a major benefit of Zone 2 running, true aerobic running will make you a better fat burner. Zone 3 running will leave you burning a mixture of carbs and fat, never making you super efficient at being a carb burner or fat burner!
Simply put, your hard days should be hard! With a high heart rate in Zone 4/Zone 5 for increasingly longer periods (in accordance with your race goals). There is no major benefit to be gained from Zone 3 training when you could be doing high-end Zone 4 and Zone 5 (Threshold/ VO2 Max). The benefits for speed, lactate endurance, and metabolism are maximized when you’re doing top-end Zone 4 and Zone 5 work. This is where you become efficient at mitigating lactic acid, more efficient at burning carbs, and thereby reach your optimal performance.
Creating the Perfect Running Training Plan
So what’s the time-crunched athlete to do? How do you create a schedule that allows us to capture the benefits of spectrum running? What else can I do to help break through?
The first thing an athlete adopting this methodology needs to do is to throw away their “average pace” ego. Validating a run on average pace alone is a dangerous proposition, leading you directly into a hard run at the cost of recovery and adaptation. The two best things you can do are invest in a heart rate monitor and calculate your pace zones based on a recent race effort.
Every hard day should be followed by one or two days of easy running. For example:
This schedule maximizes time and allows for adequate recovery with even the most time-crunched athlete getting in two high-quality workouts a week. A majority of athletes will see a big jump in fitness when they slow down and put the energy they saved on Zone 2 days into the hard Zone 4/Zone 5 days.
You can determine your increase in fitness by doing periodic fitness tests on your hard days. Establish the right number of recovery days by checking your resting HR in the morning to see if you’ve recovered enough for high-end work. This method is called heart rate variability (HRV) training, and it can be very helpful for preventing overtraining.
Run Slower to Get Faster
If you’re desperate to break through and you’re pushing yourself to the brink run after run, try taking a “run slower to get faster” approach. Your mileage may be lower at first, but the aerobic benefit you’ll receive will outweigh the loss in mileage. For success in your next major race, utilize the above method and schedule to structure your training. Most athletes see a jump in fitness after four weeks and the biggest jumps between four and 12 weeks.
If this seems like a lot of work, TrainingPeaks has amazing coaches waiting to work with you. Reach your goals faster and find a coach that’s the right fit with the TrainingPeaks Coach Match Service.
